To send on a LAN or WAN link, the IP datagram is finally encapsulated with a header and trailer for the data-link layer technology of the outgoing physical interface. For example, when an IP datagram is sent on an Ethernet interface, the IP datagram is encapsulated with an Ethernet header and trailer. When an IP datagram is sent over a point-to-point WAN link such as an analog phone line or ISDN, the IP datagram is encapsulated with a PPP header and trailer.
Compatibility – Device compatibility is something that has become more important with the passage of time. With an increased number of brands of computers and advances in mobile technology, virtually any software today should be compatible with various devices and operating systems. You should always make sure your VPN is compatible with your device before you make up your mind.

Servers – ExpressVPN has a large server network that spans more than 94 locations across the world. The total number of servers of ExpressVPN has crossed 2,000. You can connect to servers in available locations in a matter of mere seconds. All servers are encrypted with the AES 256 standard, ensuring the security of user traffic. With these servers, you can gain access to any website, no matter how strong a firewall has been put up to prevent user traffic from accessing it.

Fortunately, there are some brave companies that are still trying to stay one step ahead of Netflix’s VPN catchers. Currently, Windscribe Pro is our top choice. The service delivers good speeds on its U.S. servers, and has a very simple approach to Netflix: Just select the “Windflix” connection from the desktop app or browser extension and you’re good to go. Windflix is still technically in beta, but it works well and there’s even a Windflix U.K. option if you’d like to experience Netflix from the other side of the pond.

We didn’t audit any VPN services ourselves (though IVPN, our top pick, offered to arrange such an exercise), but we did ask detailed questions about each service’s operations as a way to judge whether a company was acting in good faith. Good faith is important, because there aren’t many avenues to penalize a VPN company that isn’t following through on its promises. In the US, companies making false claims about their products are policed by the Federal Trade Commission, and to some extent state attorneys general. Joseph Jerome at CDT told us that companies violating their own privacy policy or claims about logging would be “a textbook example of a deceptive practice under state and federal consumer protection laws,” and in theory, “the FTC could seek an injunction barring the deceptive practice as well as potentially getting restitution or other monetary relief.”

Every user is going to have slightly different VPN needs, and the best way to pick the ideal VPN service is to take careful stock of what your needs are before you go shopping. You may even find you don’t need to go shopping because home-grown or router-based solutions you already have are a perfect fit. Let’s run through a series of questions you should ask yourself and highlight how different VPN features meet the needs highlighted by those questions.

There are many things a VPN must do well to be useful, and one of the most important ones is to be fast. You can likely get around many other shortcomings. But if your VPN is slower than a dial-up modem (for those of us who remember them), there will be trouble ahead. Not only will you be less likely to use your VPN, but you will probably also curse it every time you do. It’s money well wasted.

Cost: To pay for NordVPN on a monthly basis will cost you $11.95/month. However, you can get it cheaper at $9.00/month or $6.99/month if you buy 6 or 12 months at once for $54.00 or $83.88, respectively. Nord is also running a special that allows you to purchase 2 years of service for $3.99/month when you pay the full $95.75 upfront every two years. There's a 30-day money back guarantee and a free 3-day trial option.

We used to advise people to do banking and other important business over their cellular connection when using a mobile device, since it is generally safer than connecting with a public Wi-Fi network. But even that isn't always a safe bet. Researchers have demonstrated how a portable cell tower, such as a femtocell, can be used for malicious ends. The attack hinges on jamming the LTE and 3G bands, which are secured with strong encryption, and forcing devices to connect with a phony tower over the less-secure 2G band. Because the attacker controls the fake tower, he can carry out a man-in-the-middle attack and see all the data passing over the cellular connection. Admittedly, this is an exotic attack, but it's far from impossible.

Tired of compromising the online privacy and security of one device for another? With a single NordVPN account, you can secure up to 6 devices simultaneously. Protect your Internet traffic on the go with the NordVPN mobile apps available on the Android and iOS devices, enjoy the intuitive VPN service for the macOS, Windows and Linux operating systems, or download proxy extensions for Chrome and Firefox.

When it comes to VPNs, however, speed is one of the most difficult factors to accurately quantify. We always run speed tests as empirically as possible when we review a VPN provider, but the fact of the matter is that the fastest VPN for where you live is not necessarily the fastest VPN for where I live. The fastest VPN for streaming video might not be the speediest for online gaming. Even the fastest VPN service at noon probably isn’t the quickest at midnight.
Required only when the VPN server is acting as a VPN client (a calling router) in a site-to-site VPN connection. If all traffic from the VPN server is allowed to reach TCP port 1723, network attacks can emanate from sources on the Internet using this port. Administrators should only use this filter in conjunction with the PPTP filters that are also configured on the VPN server.
In many cases, each of these offices also have LANs. But how do the LANs connect? For some very specialized solutions, companies lease private lines to connect the offices. That can be very expensive. Instead, most companies opt to geographically connect separated private LANs over the public internet. To protect their data, they set up VPNs between offices, encrypting the data as it traverses the public internet.
If your needs are more serious than watching Netflix or keeping some war kiddie at the coffee shop from snooping on your social media activity, a VPN may not be for you. Many VPNs promise anonymity, but few can actually provide it–and you’re still trusting the VPN provider with access to your traffic, which isn’t ideal. For that, you likely want something more like Tor, which–while not perfect–is a better anonymity solution than VPNs.
When we ran our recent Hive Five on VPN service providers, we heard from VPN providers begging to be included, angry CEOs who claimed their company was maliciously left out, and others accusing some of the contenders of illegal or unethical behavior. We took at look at the poll and the claims, and while there’s no definitive proof the poll was gamed, we decided to come up with our own top five, based on our own research rather than reader feedback, that are great whether you’re the privacy advocate, the student, or the downloader.
Access to Netflix and other streaming services is rock solid thanks to dedicated streaming servers. Torrenting/Kodi performance is equally good except on US servers, where P2P traffic is sadly banned. Download speeds on local connections are typically over 128Mbps and while they drop off on international servers, it’s always enough for HD streaming.

Split tunneling is the generic term for software that lets you define which apps send data through the VPN tunnel and which travel outside the tunnel. This lets you route more sensitive activities, like web browsing or online banking, from more mundane but higher-bandwidth activities, like streaming music or playing video games. It's especially useful because Netflix blocks VPN use, as do other services. You can simply route these apps outside the VPN in order to avoid this problem. Not many VPN services offer this feature, but PureVPN does. Seek out split tunneling if speed is of primary concern.

The service’s no logs policy means that it does not store user online activity data and promises not to release them unless required by law, ensuring that your information is in safe hands. What sets this service apart from others is its refund policy. Users are able to use it for up to 10 hours or 10GB of bandwith and still get a refund, a far more generous policy than what others have to offer.
The ability to use public WiFi securely. Using the WiFi in a public place such as a library, cafe, or airport can make you feel vulnerable, especially when unsure of how secure the connection is. You never know who could be gaining access to your personal files. However, our VPN service secures your privacy and allows you to browse and work as you please.
PIA didn’t score super high. Total was really fast when I first tested it, probably because it had few customers and the servers weren’t congested, but since then the service has taken a nose dive both on the performance and the customer service front. We had a never-ending stream of comments on their review about poor billing practices and other major issues, so we can no longer recommend it.
These services offer many ways to connect, including without the service's client software; support operating systems and devices, such as routers or set-top boxes, beyond just the "big four" operating systems (Windows, Mac, Android and iOS); have hundreds, or even thousands, of servers in dozens of countries; and generally let the user sign up and pay anonymously.

The more locations a VPN provider houses servers, the more flexible it is when you want to choose a server in a less-congested part of the world or geoshift your location. And the more servers it has at each location, the less likely they are to be slow when lots of people are using the service at the same time. Of course, limited bandwidth in and out of an area may still cause connections to lag at peak times even on the most robust networks.

NordVPN is a popular no logs VPN service based in Panama. It performed well in testing for the latest update to the NordVPN review and offers very competitive prices. While the speeds can be somewhat variable, the latest speed test results were good with the servers I tested. To improve speeds, NordVPN has added hundreds of servers to their network, so there is more bandwidth for users.
If routing protocols are not used to update the routing tables, then the routes must be entered as static routes. The static routes that correspond to the network IDs available across the interface are entered manually or automatically. The automatic entering of static routes for demand-dial interfaces is known as making auto-static updates and is supported by the server running Routing and Remote Access. Auto-static updates are supported by Routing Information Protocol (RIP) for IP, but not by OSPF.

Switzerland is famed for its privacy-friendly legislation, and that’s where VyprVPN operates from - although its servers operate in 72 other countries to deliver unlimited data. If you’re used to VPN services absolutely killing your data speeds you’ll be positively surprised by VyprVPN: we found that our data speeds actually increased when we enabled the VPN! Not only that but there are plenty of useful options including auto-connect, a kill-switch and enhanced security via the service’s proprietary Chameleon protocol and its own DNS. VyprVPN has a free trial too so you can try it our and see what you think before you commit!

It’s also fast with impressive 830+ server locations, which makes it an excellent choice for P2P file-sharing, online gaming, and HD streaming. There are no annoying bandwidth caps here, and you can connect to Netflix US, BBC iPlayer, or France’s Canal+ if you wish – there’s a server for every need. The double encryption will understandably slow things down.
The free account is limited to a single user, while the premium account enabled unlimited bandwidth for up to five computers or mobile devices. TunnelBear doesn’t list the total number of servers on their site, but they do offer servers in 20 countries. Their Windows and Mac OS X client is based on OpenVPN and their mobile VPN system uses L2TP/IPsec. Unlike the previous two recommendations, however, TunnelBear has a firmer stance against file sharing activities and BitTorrent is blocked. Their speeds also aren’t quite as fast as the others, so you might experience a slower connection with TunnelBear.
The practical uses for a VPN service are plentiful. Want to access a website that your ISP has blocked? A VPN puts that website just one click away. Want to access the US version of Netflix from the UK? Just set your VPN to a US location and you're there. Want to access porn without your ISP or your business knowing about it? Want to download torrents without being blocked by your ISP? It's easy.
The country connections, meanwhile, matter most to those who want to spoof their location; however, non-spoofers should also make sure there are connections in their home country. If you live in Los Angeles, for example, and want access to American content, then you’ll need a VPN that provides U.S. connections. It won’t work to try and watch Amazon Prime Video over a Dutch VPN connection, because as far as Hulu’s concerned your computer is in the Netherlands.
In this approach, the firewall must be configured with input and output filters on its Internet and perimeter network interfaces to allow the passing of tunnel maintenance traffic and tunneled data to the VPN server. Additional filters can allow the passing of traffic to Web servers, FTP servers, and other types of servers on the perimeter network. As an added layer of security, the VPN server should also be configured with PPTP or L2TP/IPSec packet filters on its perimeter network interface as described in “VPN Server in Front of a Firewall” in this section.
When we test VPNs, we try to get a sense for the impact a service has on internet performance by finding a percentage change between using the VPN and not using the VPN for several speed measurements. First, we run several tests without the VPN active, discard the highest and lowest results, and find the average of what remains. This is our baseline. We then do the same thing, but with the VPN active.

It can be made to work at a push in China but there’s better options available. Customer support is improving. IPVanish isn’t cheap but it only requires a 2-year commitment to slash the monthly price by 69% to a reasonable $3.74. If P2P is your priority then IPVanish really is a superb VPN for both privacy and performance that will also cover many other needs.

In addition to running a local test using the server closest physically to my location, I also run tests on US, UK, Canadian, Australian, Dutch, German and French servers (assuming, of course, the VPN provider supports that country). These seven are the locations to which users most commonly connect. You can find the results on each provider’s speed test page.
We’ve shown you how to roll your own VPN using Hamachi, and even how to set up Privoxy to secure your web browsing once you have your personal VPN set up. Hamachi isn’t the only option: you can also download and configure OpenVPN (a free SSL VPN) on your own home server,, or if you have a router that supports it, enable OpenVPN on your home router so you can connect back to it when you’re abroad. Combined with Privoxy, you get the privacy and anonymity benefits of a VPN without spending a dime.
Trusting a VPN is a hard choice, but IVPN's transparency goes a long way toward proving that its customers' privacy is a priority. Founder and CEO Nick Pestell answered all of our questions about the company's internal security, and even described the tools the company uses to limit and track access to secure servers. IVPN goes further than the other leading candidates we considered by being transparent about who runs the service and who is responsible for your privacy.
Our Findings: During the test we found HMA delivering a pretty decent volume of speed. However, we noticed a bit of throttling and interruptions in the connection. Overall, the fast VPN test was fine, and we didn’t experience much downstream. We discovered that due to highly encrypted protocols tied up with HideMyAss network, its connection is slow compare to ExpressVPN and IPVanish.

IP / DNS leak test – IPVanish does not suffer from any DNS or IP leak problems. This is a sign of the strong security and encryption protocols that IPVanish uses. As such, you can download torrents through IPVanish and rest assured that your IP won’t be leaked. However, in spite of the solid security, I still wouldn’t recommend going the torrent route with IPVanish for reasons highlighted below.

ExpressVPN has 148 locations in 94 different countries which means you can dial your IP address into 148 locations around the world. ExpressVPN delivers great performance - and it’s put the effort into its software too, with dedicated apps for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android and BlackBerry as well as some Smart TVs, Amazon Fire TV Sticks, Apple TV, PS4 and Xbox and even your router. Not only that but there are solid online tutorials too, so even if VPNs are dark magic to you they’ll have you up and running in no time. P2P is fully supported and it's super speedy so you can torrent using the maximum bandwidth of your broadband connection and there’s a kill switch that keeps your IP address hidden if anything goes wrong with the VPN or with your internet connection. ExpressVPN is reasonably priced, delivers a good service and has support for three simultaneous connections. There’s no free trial available but there is a no-fuss 30-day money back guarantee if the service doesn’t meet your requirements so that's a good way to test it out if you're unsure. We have used the 24/7 customer service a number of times and can vouch for its effectiveness - we had a couple of issues with using the service on a PC and were able to sort it within a few minutes using the instant online chat support.
Usually, it's the free services that throttle your usage in these ways. Some paid services will offer a trial, where you can transmit up to a certain data cap before being asked to sign up as a paying customer. That's actually pretty cool, because it gives you a chance to try out the performance of their service before paying, but it also gives the vendor a chance to make the money necessary to operate the service.
No company came closer to being a pick than ExpressVPN. It has a huge server network that performed well in our tests, plus easy-to-use applications on tons of platforms, and strong security technologies in place. A representative answered all our questions about company operations at length—except one. As noted in a PCWorld review of the service, ExpressVPN chooses not to disclose the company’s leadership or ownership. The company representative told us that this policy enabled ExpressVPN to build a private and secure product without compromise. “We think that this approach has been effective until now and that coupled with a stellar VPN product, we have succeeded in gaining a solid reputation in our industry. We are fortunate to be trusted by the many users worldwide who choose ExpressVPN.”
They left a vunerability up for 3 years. Never bothered to do anything about it and never bothered to see if anyone took advantage of the vulnerability.So either they're flat out lying and knew they were being hacked and couldn't do anything about it or it's actually a back door they put there purposely. Can someone explain Googles behavior makes any sense?
PureVPN has servers in more than 140 countries and can be very inexpensive if you pay for two years up front. It also lets you "split-tunnel" your service so that some data is encrypted and other data isn't. But PureVPN was at or near the back of the pack in almost all of our 2017 performance tests. In October 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice disclosed in a criminal complaint that PureVPN had given the FBI customer logs in reference to a cyberstalking case, which kind of negates the entire point of using a VPN.
Also important is the protocol the VPN service uses. Connecting to a VPN service using the OpenVPN protocol generally yields a faster, more reliable experience. Plus, OpenVPN is, as the name implies, open-source. That means it has been picked over for flaws and exploits by thousands of volunteers. If you're concerned about speed and security, selecting a service that supports OpenVPN and makes it available by default is important.

Hello Jeff. I understand the trouble you’re having with torrents. It is a known issue with all VPN users, where the speed generally being compromised to a great level. To the best of my experience, the speed fluctuation has an impact from the location you are connected. So my first advice here is to try out switching to different servers and see which one has a better download and upload speed in your Torrent client. Also, do check the health of the torrent file – sometimes it is the issue from the tracker we are downloading. We have covered a detailed guide on how to download torrent safely which covers the speed area also.

Our results were similar in other parts of the world, with IVPN ranking near the top regardless of the test, day, or time. The exception was in Asia, where its Hong Kong servers didn’t perform well. At the time of our initial tests in spring of 2018, IVPN didn’t offer any other servers in Asia aside from Hong Kong. Since then, the company has added locations in Singapore and Tokyo, but we haven’t run a new series of standardized tests with either location.

Is using the web safely one of your concerns? Maybe you know someone who has been hacked or you’ve experienced it yourself. Have you ever wanted to purchase something or book travel but found it to be more expensive when you revisited it? Do you ever want to download a file but are unsure about your internet security? Or perhaps you’ve wanted to speak to family and friends but feel uncomfortable about how private your connection is. If one or more of these statements are concerns of yours, there is a solution — use a VPN, a way to disguise your IP address and add extra encryption to your data.
VPN is used for a variety of purposes; from protecting your internet activity to giving you free and unmetered access to the Internet, it covers all! The fastest VPN is indeed a need for everyone using the Internet, as it is not only privacy and security that we seek but entertainment also. With a fastest VPN connection installed on your PCs and mobile devices, you can enjoy the greater goods of the Internet and seamlessly benefit from the fun with any restrictions. We have listed down some of the main advantages attached to a fastest VPN service.
PPTP - PPTP has been around since the days of Windows 95. The main selling point of PPTP is that it can be simply setup on every major OS. In short, PPTP tunnels a point-to-point connection over the GRE protocol. Unfortunately, the security of the PPTP protocol has been called into question in recent years. It is still strong, but not the most secure.
Internet connection has changed the lives of many people. Today, they are more than 3.5 billion in the world to connect on this large public network. Some Internet users connect to the Internet for entertainment, information sharing, information, watching videos, etc., and others for purely business reasons. In both cases, Internet users should always use a VPN to secure their connection and surf more freely and anonymously on the Internet.
It’s up to you to answer these questions by reading over the documentation provided by the VPN service provider before signing up for the service. Better yet, read over their documentation and then search for complaints about the service to ensure that even though they claim they don’t do X, Y, or Z, that users aren’t reporting that they are in fact doing just that.
Every service we tested accepts payment via credit card, PayPal, and Bitcoin. That’s plenty of options for most people, and you can always use a prepaid debit card if you don’t want your billing information tied to your VPN account. IVPN and OVPN are the only ones to accept cash payment through the mail, if you really don’t want to make a payment online. Private Internet Access and TorGuard accept gift cards from other companies—IVPN doesn’t, but that option isn’t worth the additional hassle for many people when other secure, private methods are available.
In many cases, each of these offices also have LANs. But how do the LANs connect? For some very specialized solutions, companies lease private lines to connect the offices. That can be very expensive. Instead, most companies opt to geographically connect separated private LANs over the public internet. To protect their data, they set up VPNs between offices, encrypting the data as it traverses the public internet.
We have also taken into consideration the use of VPN protocols in our fastest VPN trial. All the testing are on PPTP and L2TP connection as they are designed to yield fast VPN performance to the end users. All the high-speed VPN tests are carried out using Speedtest.net, a service that is used by almost everyone to test their internet connection. Below are the baseline speed of our Internet connection without a VPN:
And if you’re looking for mobile VPNs, we’ve compiled the best VPNs for Android and the best VPNs for iPhone. For your local network, it might even be easier to set up a VPN on your router 4 Reasons to Set Up a VPN on Your Router (Instead of Your PC) 4 Reasons to Set Up a VPN on Your Router (Instead of Your PC) You use a VPN, but is it practical to use it on several devices when you could simply set it up on a VPN? The choice is yours. Here's what you need to know. Read More .
In addition to blocking malicious sites and ads, some VPNs also claim to block malware. We don't test the efficacy of these network-based protections, but most appear to be blacklists of sites known to host malicious software. That's great, but don't assume it's anywhere near as good as standalone antivirus. Use this feature to complement, not replace, your antivirus.